Michael Johnson shows off his new World record in Atlanta, 1996. Mike Powell
The Man Who Sweats
Greg Whitmore,
The Observer Picture Desk Editor
(3 Olympic Games)
"At Sydney they saw photography as being extraordinarily important, so there was loads of access. Before, it was mostly TV. Now, the sheer volume of material coming in is painfully noticeable - thousands of images clogging up your inbox. You can enjoy the photographs as they come in but the majority of the time you're sweating it out, hoping for the pictures that will make the difference in your sports section. The imagery is all-important. You can go and read the results of the races but everyone's interested in seeing the photographs of these amazing events. Especially with less-followed sports, like fencing, where it's more about the grace and beauty of a single image rather than what foil somebody is using. You get so many celebration pictures - arms up in the air on the podium. But we're trying to find something which shows elation or despair, the agony or the ecstasy. Athletics shows off the human condition and its raw exertion. Achievement or failure. Something that rings true with the reader."
Michael Johnson shows off his new World record in Atlanta, 1996.
